Hilary Swank
Real Name: Hilary Ann Swank
Date of Birth: 30 July 1974
Place of birth: Lincoln, Nebraska USA
Profession: Actress
A professional actress since the age of 16, when she moved to Los Angeles from her native Bellingham, WA, Hilary Swank first appeared onscreen in 1992’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Two years later, she earned a rudimentary degree of fame when she was picked to star in The Next Karate Kid, but this recognition proved fleeting: Swank subsequently appeared in a number of minor films and did a year-long stint on Beverly Hills 90210. In 1999, however, she won both acclaim and recognition for her lead role in Kimberly Peirce’s independent drama Boys Don’t Cry. Based on the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a woman whose decision to lead her life as a man met with dire consequences, Boys Don’t Cry was one of the year’s most lauded films, with particular praise going to Swank for her stunning performance. She went on to win a number of honors for her work in the film, including Golden Globe and Academy Awards for Best Actress.
Hilary was discovered as a child by producer Suzy Sachs, who coached her in acting. When she was nine years old she starred in her first play as “Mowgli” in “The Jungle Book.” She began to appear regularly in local theater and school plays. She went to school in Bellingham, where she lived with her family, until she was 16.
She competed in the Junior Olympics and Washington State championships in swimming; she ranked 5th in the state in all-around gymnastics (which would come in handy for starring in The Next Karate Kid (1994) years later). In 1990, Hilary and her mother moved to Los Angeles, where she enrolled in South Pasadena High School, and started acting professionally. She appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) but The Next Karate Kid (1994) where she got the part competing against hundreds of other actresses was her breakout role. Ever since then she has been much in demand, and has worked non-stop in movies.
Offscreen, she married Chad Lowe on September 28, 1997. An aficionado for anything that involves the outdoors, she enjoys: sky diving, river rafting, and skiing.
In 1999, however, she won both acclaim and recognition for her lead role in Kimberly Peirce’s independent drama Boys Don’t Cry. Based on the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a woman whose decision to lead her life as a man met with dire consequences, Boys Don’t Cry was one of the year’s most lauded films, with particular praise going to Swank for her stunning performance. She went on to win a number of honors for her work in the film, including Golden Globe and Academy Awards for Best Actress.
Predictably, Swank’s workload increased significantly after her Oscar win in 2001, and the actress found herself starring in several lesser known but nonetheless challenging roles, including Sam Raimi’s psychological thriller The Gift (2001), as well as The Affair of the Necklace with then future Oscar winner Adrien Brody.
Swank also co-narrated the Barbara Streisand-produced documentary Reel Models: The First Women of Film, and would take on gender equality issues once again in HBO’s Iron Jawed Angels(2003), which featured Swank, Angelica Houston, and Frances O’Connor as leaders in the women’s suffrage movement. However, Swank did take a break from brooding period pieces and serious explorations of sexuality for one unapologetic big-budget summer blockbuster—Jon Amiel’s The Core (2003), in which Swank co-starred as one of several individuals chosen to journey to the Earth’s core in hopes of jump-starting the collapsing electromagentic forces. She also accepted a supporting role as an eager-to-please rookie detective alongside Hollywood veteran Al Pacino in 2002’s Insomnia.
